This invention is related to the field of electronic data carriers and electronic components. More particularly, the invention is directed to an electronic component which can be applied at a remote location by a user and a method of applying the component. Aspects of the invention are directed to an attachable strip for magnetic strip cards and a method of replacing or applying the strips at a location remote from the card issuer.
Electronic components have been made smaller, lighter and more effective over recent years. For example, computer chips, data carrying magnetic strips and solar power cells are able to be applied to carriers (such as cards) which fit into a wallet. Such electronic components can carry large amounts of data and serve numerous other purposes, depending on the particular component.
Cards bearing an electronic data carrier of some sort are currently used for numerous purposes. For example, the use of credit and debit cards is commonplace among persons involved in all types of financial transactions. Further, such cards are used to open electronic locks, as rail passes, library cards, for parking lot access, medical identification cards and so on. All of these cards have or can have a common size and thickness and all contain an electronic component, such as a computer chip or a magnetic strip imprint bearing ferrous metal particles (or both), which is capable of being encoded with information. The information on some electronic components is changed as the card is used. The magnetic strips in present use may include a plurality of tracks and may be positioned anywhere on the card (in a fixed spatial relationship to an edge) that is not reserved for the raised letters of the owner's name, card number and other indicia.
Credit cards are issued providing each card with a specific identification number assigned to the card owner. The card can be visually identified by the number, the name of the card owner, and other information (such as expiration date, the date of joining the credit plan, and the like). Smart cards include a computer chip mounted in or on the card. The chip contains information about the owner of the card, account balances, passwords and the like. Due to the large amount of information on these smart carts they can be employed for numerous purposes. Debit cards are issued by banks to allow charging directly to a checking account or a savings account in the institution. Automatic Teller Machine cards, a type of debit card, are used to withdraw cash from the bank using electronic tellers. Newer "money cards" are issued with no value until moneys are paid by the card owner to the issuer of the card at which time the electronic code on the card is changed to reflect the balance of purchasing power up to that limit, such as, for telephone calls and the like. At each purchase, that amount is reduced until the amount originally paid has been dissipated. Entry or pass cards are used in hotels and high security buildings in place of keys. Expansion of the use of the entry cards in residential buildings and motor vehicles is likely. Of course, there are many other uses for such data carrying cards.
Despite the proliferation of these cards, a number of handling and security problems exist. Although the card almost always includes raised letters and numbers to identify the owner, the card number and the expiration date, most uses of the cards employ electronic readers which directly read information from the electronic component, rather than the physical indicia on the card. However, the information coded on the electronic component can be damaged if the electronic component comes into proximity with a magnetically charged body. Further, if the credit card is merely kept in a person's pocket, it is subjected to continued abrasion, moisture, bending, flexing and possible damage to the electronic component. Since this is typically not discovered until the card is being used, it is not uncommon for the card to be rendered useless to the owner at a most inopportune and embarrassing time.
When the electronic component on a card has been damaged, the entire card is routinely replaced. Typically, the cardholder is asked by the card issuer to destroy the card and is issued a temporary card. A replacement card must be manufactured, embossing letters on the card and coding a new magnetic strip and then delivered to the cardholder. This procedure is costly and time consuming and can take a few days for the cardholder to get his replacement card. For certain cards (such as the money cards), this may result in an irreversible financial loss to the cardholder.
Despite the common use of such electronic components on cards, many other uses are not fully exploited. The electronic components are applied to cards and encoded at a plant of the card issuer. Such electronic components are not applied at remote locations, either to cards or other objects, and not under the computer control of the component issuer at these remote locations. Further, such cards typically have only a single electronic component and, thus, perform only a single function. Due to the expense of manufacture, these cards typically are not manufactured and encoded for a single or limited use, such as for event tickets.
Various patents describe methods and apparatus for forming the cards or apply the magnetic strip. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,044,231; 4,100,011; 4,231,828 and 4,544,184. None of these devices address the problems and needs described above nor do they attain the objects of the invention described herein below.